Consecutive wins place girls fifth

A loss and 35 turnovers against Baldwin early last week could have foretold pre-Christmas gloom and doom for the Tonganoxie girls basketball team.

"We looked bad," said John Lee, Tonganoxie girls basketball coach.

But the Chieftains looked in their stockings and found reasons to be of good cheer including consecutive wins against Basehor and Piper.

Jill Stauch played well in the 41-32 win against Basehor. She scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Keri Walker played tough defense at guard, Andrea Korb grabbed nine rebounds and Aimee Eisman played in all four quarters of her first varsity game. The three are only sophomores.

"The sophomores are playing well for me right now," Lee said. "We're looking for the seniors to match their intensity. Once that happens, they'll be fun to watch."

The Chieftains found some pressure defense in their stockings during the Piper game. Tonganoxie finished fifth in the Gardner-Edgerton Tournament with the 44-38 win.

Tonganoxie led 14-7 after the first quarter. Sara Poje forced 13 Piper turnovers, leading to steals by a variety of Chieftains. Andrea Korb and Stauch both had five steals.

Kristin Korb guarded Jessica Shepler. Shepler had scored more than 20 points in two previous games but only had eight points against Tonganoxie.

Stauch again led the offense, scoring 11 points while making all seven of her free throw attempts.

A 12-point Tonganoxie halftime lead dwindled to four before the press created a couple of layups. At that point the Chieftains led 38-30, and it turned into a free throw competition as Piper fouled repeatedly trying to get back into the game.

Tonganoxie made six-of-nine foul shots in the fourth quarter, holding the lead.

Alicia Stauch played well in her second varsity game and Deaven Workman hustled all over the floor according to Lee.

The Chieftains played Piper again Tuesday.

"Any time you play a team back-to-back, it's hard to win both," Lee said.

Up next

The varsity girls play at 7 p.m. Friday at Immaculata.

The junior varsity girls play at 4 p.m. Friday at Immaculata and at 5 p.m. Monday at Turner.

The freshman girls play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Basehor and at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Eudora.